“Pope Francis wanted to distance those who knew too much” –

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, condemned as a schismatic by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith after repeated attacks on Pope Francis whose authority he does not recognize, has been excommunicated. “His public statements are well known, which translate into a refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, to communion with the members of the Church and to the legitimacy of the magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council,” the Congregation said in a statement, in which it declared the “monsignor” guilty of the crime of schism. Viganò, 83, is a representative of the most conservative sector of the Catholic Church, appointed archbishop in 1992 by John Paul II and then, among other roles, apostolic nuncio first in Nigeria until 1998 and then in the United States between 2011 and 2016. Today, in an interview with Il Messaggero, Viganò spoke again. “For me, the truth comes first,” he repeatedly stressed.

Carlo Maria Viganò ended up on trial in the Vatican for having publicly declared that he did not recognize the authority of the Pontiff or the Second Vatican Council. His statements unleashed a real earthquake and led to his excommunication. “After the release of my memoir on the McCarrick case in August 2018, a contact of mine from the United States warned me that my life was in danger: this is why I do not reside in a fixed place. I do not want to end up like Cardinal Pell, nor like my predecessor in Washington, Nuncio Pietro Sambi”, he said, admitting that he feared for his fate. The monsignor accused Pope Francis of not having acted in time and of having ignored McCarrick’s abuses.

“I personally handled the McCarrick case and since then I have asked for his removal from the cardinalate. My direct superiors are responsible for not having taken into due consideration my judgment based on incontrovertible testimonies. Obviously, McCarrick’s actions were convenient for someone in the Secretariat of State: I think of the huge sums raised through the Papal Foundation that McCarrick had established in the United States”, he said. Bergoglio, according to Viganò, “owes his election to McCarrick”. Pope Francis, then, allegedly took away the apartment in the curia from the monsignor in 2016. This is what Viganò confirmed in the interview. “The justification was that there was a need for that apartment but from what I know it remained empty. It was clearly a vindictive action, Bergoglio wanted to get rid of someone who knew too much and was not maneuverable”, he added.